UP cops accompany mob dragging away a Muslim man before beating him to death

Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Wednesday did not rule out the possibility of contesting the Channapatna Assembly bypoll, as he maintained that he will have to abide by the "decision" of the party and voters of the segment.

"Channapatna is in my heart. Channapatna is also the place that gave me political birth," Shivakumar, also the state Congress chief, told reporters ahead of his visit to the town in the neighbouring Ramanagara district.

Channapatna bypoll is necessitated as the seat fell vacant following the election of its representative -- JD(S) leader and now Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy - to Lok Sabha in the recent elections.

The byelection schedule for this Assembly seat is yet to be announced by the Election Commission.

"Channapatna was also part of Sathanur earlier (the erstwhile segment represented by Shivakumar). I love Channapatna, I want to help Channapatna. I want to change Channapatna," Shivakumar said.

Asked whether his brother and former MP D K Suresh will be contesting from Channapatna, he said, "That is not decided. More or less, I'm asking the votes for myself."

Though there were talks earlier that Suresh, who lost from Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha segment in the recent elections, may be fielded in Channapatna, speculations are now rife in political circles, especially the grand old party, that Shivakumar may enter the fray to avenge his brother's defeat and to re-establish his clout in the region.

According to sources, if Shivakumar contests and wins from Channapatna, he may vacate the Kanakapura Assembly seat that he currently represents for Suresh.

Both Channapatna and Kanakapura are part of the Vokkaliga dominated Ramanagara district, which comes under the Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha segment from where Kumaraswamy's brother-in-law and eminent cardiologist C N Manjunath won as a BJP candidate as part of arrangement between alliance partners BJP and JD(S), by defeating Suresh.

"Channapatana gave me political birth. For four times I have won in a hobli from Channapatna that came under my Assembly constituency. People there have blessed me," Shivakumar said.

"Even during the difficult times people (of Channapatna) have given us about 80,000 votes (in the recent Lok Sabha elections)," he said. "I have to repay the debt I owe to the people there by bringing in a change there. There is an opportunity to do more development there than what I have done in Kanakapura."

Stating that he is visiting temples in Channapatna to offer prayers to the gods who have blessed him, Shivakumar said he will then speak to the voters there, and listen to what voters and leaders there say. "Based on that I will decide."

On what he will do, if people want him to contest, he said: "there is no other way. I will have to listen to what my party and voters say." BJP MLC C P Yogeeshwara is said to be one of the probable candidates for Channapatna bypoll from BJP-JD(S) alliance.

Kumaraswamy's actor-turned-politician son Nikhil Kumaraswamy's name is also doing the rounds. Nikhil had lost the 2023 Assembly polls from neighbouring Ramanagara.

Kumaraswamy of JD(S) had won Channapatna in 2018 and 2023. Before that Yogeeshwara had represented the seat from BJP and Samajwadi Party. He had earlier also represented the seat both as an independent and from the Congress party.

Shivakumar has been representing the Kanakapura segment since 2008.

Amid the massive row surrounding the cancellation of the UGC-NET exam, the Education Ministry has said that the test was scrapped because its integrity may have been compromised and has emphasised that it won't hesitate to take action against anyone.

Govind Jaiswal, joint secretary in the Education Ministry, told the media that the exam, for which over 11 lakh students had registered, was cancelled on the basis of inputs received from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre. The exam, which was held on Tuesday, was cancelled yesterday.

"The matter has been handed over to the CBI for a thorough investigation. A fresh examination shall be conducted, for which information will be shared soon," he said.

The ministry, he said, will not hesitate in taking action against those involved in wrongdoing. "At this level, when the investigation is underway, we can't disclose more details. NTA has its own mechanism and a lot of other stakeholders are involved. This all is under investigation," he said.

The exam was conducted by the National Testing Agency, which is under fire for alleged irregularities in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for admission to medical colleges. A total of 24 lakh aspirants took the exam. Reports of irregularities have now prompted nationwide protests and triggered demands for a re-test.

The government, he said, has taken proactive steps.

The ministry official also responded to questions on why the exam was conducted in OMR (pen and paper) mode this time -- a shift from the earlier practice. "Based on NTA's experience of four years, inputs were received from different stakeholders and this decision was taken."

UGC-NET is a test to determine a candidate's eligibility for the post of assistant professor in universities and colleges, and also for the award of research fellowships. The Education Ministry yesterday ordered that the exam -- held Tuesday -- be scrapped after inputs that its integrity may have been compromised.

The cancellation of the UGC-NET examination amid the ongoing protests against the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) has provided fresh ammunition to the Opposition parties to target the Narendra Modi government ahead of the Parliament session.

The Congress described the Narendra Modi-led NDA government as "paper leak government". Other members of the INDIA bloc, including Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) have also slammed the government over the two exams.

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government has handed over MLC Dr Suraj Revanna's sex abuse case to the CID.

ADGP Law and Order R Hitendra issued an order today directing the Superintendent of Police of Hassan district to hand over the case concerned to Suraj Revanna to the Investigation Officer at CID with immediate effect. 

He even asked the DGP CID Special Units and Economic Offences Bangalore to take up further investigation.

Suraj Revanna was booked under section 377 (unnatural offences), 342 (wrongful confinement), 506 (criminal intimidation), 34 (common intention) of IPC. 

The complainant has alleged that Suraj sexually abused him in a farmhouse, regarding which an FIR was filed against Suraj at Hassan.

The Police brought Suraj Revanna to the CEN police station on Saturday night at around 7:30 pm. They recorded his statements in connection with the complaint lodged against him by an Arkalgud youth and also on the counter complaint lodged by his close associate Shivakumar, office-bearer of 'Suraj Brigade'.

Hassan SP Mohammed Sujitha visited the police station on Saturday night.

Dr Suraj is the son of MLA H D Revanna and brother of former MP Prajwal Revanna.